America First: The Legacy of an Immigration Raid

Saturday, March 30 at 1:00 PM

It’s been a decade since Postville, Iowa suffered the largest immigration raid at a worksite in US history–389 immigrants were arrested in the biggest kosher meatpacking plant in the country. As Donald Trump revives aspects of George W. Bush’s immigration enforcement policies, this documentary feature sheds light on the repercussions of such massive raids. America First marks the return of Indie Grits alum Andrea Patiño Contreras to this year’s festival.

Preceded by:

Gutk’odau (Yellow)

Adam Piron | Los Angeles, CA | 8 minGenre: Experimental

It’s difficult to pass down a language as complex as that of the Kiowa Tribe–but that doesn’t stop its members from trying to do just that. This experimental documentary short combines audio captured from language lessons with breathtaking shots of the Great Plains.

A Line Birds Cannot See

Amy Bench | Austin, TX | 9 minGenre: Animation

In this riveting animated documentary short, a tenacious twelve-year-old separated from her mother by smugglers survives the intolerable heat of the desert, grapples with unbearable hunger on the streets of Ciudad Juárez, and eludes would-be kidnappers during her trek toward the United States.